Amazon gives teens their own login, but parents retain power

Amazon is giving teenagers a bit of independence by allowing them to place their own orders under their own login while using their parent(s) Prime subscription. Parents must add their teens (aged 13 to 17) to their Household account, a free process, after which point the teens are able to use their own login more or less as if it were their own independent account.

The idea here seems to be establishing an independent way for teenagers to begin taking over control of their own shopping, but not completely independently of their parents. The For Teens login is only made possible if the parent agrees, and parents ultimately retain the power over their teen’s shopping habits, including settings spending limits and having the ability to deny an order.

Teens who are interested in using their own login can get the ball rolling by texting their parents an invitation. The parent will need to setup the shipping address and payment method, after which point an invitation is sent back to the teen. From there, the teenager is free to create their own username and password and then use that to log into the Amazon App. For them it will feel like having their own account.

For parents, an email or text message is sent when the order is ‘placed’ — that is, when the teen is ready to order, but the item isn’t actually purchased yet. Parents are shown the item, how much it costs, and similar details, as well as any note about it the teen may have made. Parents then approve or deny the order, though the system can be set to automatically approve orders if desired.

Pre-approving orders is done alongside establishing a spending limit, meaning that while the teen can order anything they want, they can only do such up to a certain price before the ability is taken away. In this case, the parent will receive a notification with an itemized list of the order, and the option remains to cancel it or initiate a refund if it is too late to cancel. Customers can sign up for the option here.